Co-op group chief executive resigns after deeming the business ungovernable

LONDON – The chief executive of Co-operative Group, Euan Sutherland, has resigned, deeming the troubled mutual society as being ungovernable.

Sutherland’s resignation Tuesday comes only days after Britain’s Observer newspaper reported that he was in line to receive a pay package of 6.6 million pounds ($11 million) over two years to lead the institution after the worst scandals in its 150-year history.

Co-op is Britain’s largest mutual society, famously dealing with matters from food to funerals. A 1.5 billion-pound bank black hole shook the institution, and it agreed to a rescue plan giving hedge funds a huge share of its operations.

It was also hit hard by a Mail on Sunday report that posted a video showing Paul Flowers, the former chair of Co-op’s banking unit, allegedly buying illegal drugs.